More College Basketball News

College Basketball NewsFlash

By Adam Stanco

BasketballWriter@cs.com

December 1st

College Basketball NewsFlash

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, CHN will be brining you the latest news and commentary from the world of college basketball.  Each NewsFlash will feature three important news stories, and sharp commentary on the relevancy of the story.

The Story: Number One No More

In the season’s first highly anticipated match-up, #1 ranked Wake Forest was torched 91-73 by #5 Illinois. Illini point guard Dee Brown had 16 points and 7 assists, while CHN 1^st Team All-American Chris Paul finished with 10 and 6.

My Take:

The Demon Deacons were ranked first for the first time in school history as they entered Wednesday night’s game. By halftime, prognosticators had their seatbelts unbuckled as they all jumped off the Wake bandwagon simultaneously. The loss wasn’t even as close as the score indicated and will drop Wake out of the Top 10. For Illinois, winning strengthens the argument that the Illini backcourt – Brown and Deron Williams – is the finest in the nation.  

The Story: Nearly Perfect

Eastern Kentucky forward Michael Haney is shooting 87% from the field thus far this season. The 6-6 senior forward has shot 20 of 23 through three games.
 

My Take:

Haney’s silent marksmanship is much more impressive than any cheesy actor armed with a pillow and a gun could pull off in a late night Cinemax flick. Making the shooting barrage even more remarkable is the fact that Haney has not missed a shot since going 7 for 10 in the season opening win over Dayton.

The Story: The Forgotten Game

North Carolina’s November 19^th loss to Santa Clara 77-66 is already a distant memory to most college basketball fans. That should have changed when Santa Clara beat fellow Californian Stanford 86-76 on Sunday.

My Take:

The Santa Clara – UNC game already holds a great amount of importance for these schools on opposite ends of the NCAA spectrum. For North Carolina, it was a wake-up call and a brutal reminder of point guard Raymond Felton’s value to the team. Since the loss, the Tar Heels have won easily four straight behind Felton’s NCAA-leading 9.3 assists per game.

Meanwhile, Santa Clara has proven to be more than the only team with St. Nick on its side. The Broncos really can beat anyone at any given time, but only if junior forward Travis Niesen is playing well. Niesen scored 26 and 31 points against UNC and Stanford, respectively, yet only averaged 11 ppg while Santa Clara went 2-2 against Duquesne, New Mexico, North Carolina A & T, and Pacific.